The Singapore Grand Prix saw a significant development in the broadcast of Formula 1 with Formula 1 Management trialling a Proof of Concept for delivering video content to broadcasters.

FOM’s Chief technical officer John Morrison hailed it as “ground breaking” and it could soon affect the way all F1 fans consume content.

The trial, conducted with FOM’s Connectivity partner Tata Communications [which is also a sponsor of the JA on F1 website], involved a live video feed of Free Practice being sent via the TCL global fibre ring back to FOM’s headquarters in Biggin Hill, England.

The demonstration included the supply of JPEG 2000 quality video from the circuit as well as multiple programme feeds. This was a first for F1.

The Singapore event is the latest step towards F1 being able to move the distribution of F1 video and data content around the world in whatever way it wants. Currently the world TV feed is sent out by satellite, but this latest development opens the door for a range of options to get the content to the end consumer.

The video, which was shot by Formula One Management, explains the development more clearly.

When F1 commercial boss Bernie Ecclestone signed the deal with Tata Communications before the start of the 2012 season, his long time technical chief Eddie Baker described it as “the most significant moment for F1 since the advent of satellites.” Being able to tap into the fibre ring gives FOM and its broadcast partners an opportunity to to manage content in ways satellite cannot provide and it is faster, reducing delays.

Tata Communications’ managing director of F1 business, Mehul Kapadia said the trial offered ” a glimpse into the future of sports broadcasting.”

For the more technically minded, the Tata Communications’ statement explains,

“Consumer demand for quality, live content across different platforms is now the norm and with the emergence of bandwidth-hungry production workflows such as Ultra HD, quick turnarounds and availability of content across multiple platforms is becoming a hygiene factor for content owners. Tata Communications’ portfolio of media services and its leading fibre network helps media companies streamline their workflows to enable better collaboration, without large investments in hardware.”

It brings a standardisation to the means of delivery of content from F1 races. Basically it connects F1 to the world in a completely new way.

It increases the amount of connectivity time, as it’s always on, unlike a satellite which is on for a matter of hours and it’s bi-directional, which means it allows the audience to interact with the sport, rather than sit back and consume. It means the sport can have individual relationships with fans, can supply content on a global and even individual basis, looking well down the line.

It will also greatly reduce the tonnage of equipment that FOM TV sends around the world as images can be sent back instantly and processed at the FOM broadcast centre in the UK.

James, this is extremely interesting. The potential for this technology to deliver content through ISP to the viewer is enormous. Are we about to witness the switch off of free to air broadcasting globally, and a subscription based digital/ISP mix in future with enhanced engagement content through the ISP version?

Also, might we be seeing the Jaguar brand stepping back into the arena? Might be a good option for Williams or another team to take Tata sponsorship and engine supply and push their way out of the midfield?

??
BT are hardly trailblazers. In fact, technology wise they are stuck in the dark ages, although this is partly due to an ageing UK infrastructure. Have a look at what Google Fiber is doing in Kansas City for consumer level technology advances.

Just a few short years ago, short-sighted and prejudiced people were making similar remarks about China, even talking about boycotting their Olympics. Where are those people now and how do they feel? I’ll tell you, they are probably scrambling for the next Chinese opportunity.

Since you bring up China I have no problem with them – they are lovely people… who respect the British so much because to use their words we ran half the world. I have never condemned the Chinese – those that do offend me as we should be congratulating them on how far they have come in a few decades and, on the whole, are making efforts to help their less well off.

On the other hand the British government is still sending aid to India where, rather than look after their less well off, they devote their energies to world class technologies such as space exploration … and taking over British industries like steel and cars. If India was a bit more like China they wouldn’t need foreign aid!

My point was that if we worked in other industries like we do in F1 (where the vast majority of the technology is produced in the UK) we would still own world beating industries and would not still be suffering from the last recession. Time and again we fail to capitalise on British inventions. Indian Tata have a world class leading technology that we all clamour to use … while the man that invented the internet has a Knighthood.

I completely agree with you about misplaced priorities here in the UK. For example, seeing our current place in IT, you would be at pains to explain to anyone that a British man, Tim Berners-Lee invented the internet or that the gaming industry was practically invented in the UK, or even that the ARM chip that powers most mobile devices is a UK design.
Other places would have taken these things and built an ever growing ecosystem of high tech industries around them that would have seen continuous growth of the kind in China. Instead, we look to Tesco for growth figures.

The British govt could directly invest in F1, especially as it is a heritage industry. A lot of high growth rate industries can be spun out of F1 alone. Just watch what other countries are doing (especially the Arabs and Singapore). You can bet that the Indian govt is going to take a near neurotic interest in F1 from now and begin cornering and spinning off all kinds of gaming industries from Tata and F1 – the potential is staggering and an obvious loss to UK industry.

That said, the only reason the UK does so well in F1 is that it has nothing to do with meddling politicians and their psychedelic sound bytes targeted at the short legged, pointy eared, green skinned people of planet Pluto.

By the way Jonathan, India does not need foreign aid. What would a few million do for their 1.2 billion population? Its like trying to save a person by giving them a penny – the truth about foreign aid is that its a political tool. And it is an important one we need to continue using to maintain influence; you’d be surprised at the amount foreign aid can buy us, useless as it seems to the cursory glance.

No argument on paying a reasonable price for quality. Thankfully, Hobbs and Machett remain solid – even if live practice and qualy sessions are now delayed for water polo and tennis (may have bigger audiences and certainly not dissing folks who appreciate those sports — only lamenting that SPEED provided for fan support with live telecasts).

One can only hope about the pricing but am afraid that Bernie already went for the $$$ and that is reflected in a lack of fan appreciation and support by the NBC programming and format decisions.

IMO things are rapidly going back to the ’60′s and ’70′s when folks here had to rely on printed media (Sports Car Graphic magazine and Autoweek’s 2 week old summaries) for any information on European racing. The good news is you don’t have to get up so early, I guess.

Thankfully we do have James and the Internet these days. Kudos for his efforts and insights.

In *mild* defense of NBCSPORTS, the commentators are great. F1 wouldn’t be the same for me without messrs Hobbs and Macthett. (And I say that as somebody who was raised in the UK in the days of Walker/Hunt).

I have VERY seriously considered ‘pulling the cord’ on cable/satellite TV and have even experimented with it over the winter break. But I nee my F1! So I’m essentially paying about $100/month *just* for the F1 coverage.

I’d rather stream from FOM – assuming it would cost lest than $100/month

Yes, and there are fantastic ways that a basic stream can be monetised, so that FOM can offer a free as well as paid services side by side.
All they need do is open up the data to paying 3rd parties to supply immersive content/technologies on the basic stream.

James, do you have any news about Lotus similar idea?
I was excited about Lotus forays into streaming last season, it all seemed super-innovative and viable as an alternative funding area for Lotus, but little seems to have come off that.

Hi James, didn’t bother reading all comments because there are too many of them so this is certainly a very important issue. Saying that, I watch all F1 races online in Australia as the tv rights holder here streams it online as we’ll, maybe 10 seconds behind the live coverage. Works fine for me, and it’s free.

The 100 year agreement specifies free to air tv coverage as we know, but this enables direct internet access should FOM decide to let it out.
It would have been a great test if FP1 had been streamed via the BBC site as it is on our 50% weekends.
Different levels of coverage could be offered at different prices.
Strange to think that Bernie did all this donkeys years ago and nobody was ready for it.

Fantastic, great, can’t wait to be able to … but wait a minute, surely this is directed at those who live in an area well provided by great broadband.

What I miss is Fanvision (Kangaroo Tv) throughout the weekend – what a waste of money my investment in that was! Unless, Tata can see a commercial benefit of buying/utilising these now redundant items on my bookshelf.

Just you wait till the best overtake in a race is about to happen, and the tv director goes to camera feed showing the spectators cheers, just like in xfactor etc…or a crash happens and camera goes to the race stewards, with them showing disaproving looks!! :/

I was just about to post a similar criticism. The stupid camera pans and constant pictures of the hotel and downtown, as well as the advertisement above the start/finish line got old really quickly, especially as there was actual racing going on. Who’s in charge of the cameras? FOM? There was probably some sort of agreement that Singapore would get so many minutes of advertising as part of the F1 package. But overhead invisible helicopter shots then pan to the hotel was stupid after a while.

Commercialisation of the tourism benefits of F1′s global audience. Race is secondary. As can be seen from the layout of certain parts of the circuit – which prioritises grandstand seats and views ahead of overtaking opportunities.

Could this mean the potential for direct to viewer transactions and content distribution. I know a lot of people would be like myself and happy for this. I’d be more than happy to pay £40-£100 per season for race access as opposed to the £500 plus I’d need to pay sky for the same content.

Hey, thats a little harsh. Sure, NBCSPORTS have made some gaffs. They always seem to take a side-by-side commercial break whenever there is something exciting happening on track, and they sometimes shift around the times of the coverage – which can be annoying.

But the commentators are knowledgeable and entertaining.
Whenever I have heard recent clips from the UK commentary team they seem rather boring and overly serious.

(Speaking as somebody raised in the UK and watched F1 during the 80′s and 90′s over there – and in USA since 2000)

HI James,
Good work as always bringing us behind the scenes stuff.
But what the heck does it REALLY mean to me?
Do I get to tell teams when they should pit a car or…
In Canada we do not get any pre or postrace show, does this mean we will be able to watch it from another countries feed, somehow?

This is certainly a positive step, but true progress for me would be if viewers have the option to subscribe to an F1 package online. Many of the younger viewers do not pay for cable, and with so many TV shows available online, buying expensive cable packages for just sports is not very appealing.

Unless F1 and other sports are available online for a reasonable fee, many will be forced to look for “alternative” sources to view the events.

Sounds like a win-win… Less impact on the environment carting around all the equipment and give the fans more options.
Personally I want to have screens going.
One with live sector times, one with two onboards split and one with the live action.

Maybe F1 will catch up with WEC, MotoGP, V8 Supercars, DTM and etc eventually by offering pay-per-view or yearly subscription payment models direct to the end customer.

I for one can’t wait as I am tired of the advert-laden coverage offered by my local broadcaster (Ten Network in Australia), and I am sure many others are the same – not just in Australia, but seemingly everywhere which is not the UK.

Reading between the lines a fascinating press release and ideal for a game of “buzzword bingo”. Speaking of which, that’s the first time since studying my MBA that I’ve heard anyone use the term “hygiene factors” outside of organisational behaviour context. Will have to try and drop that one in at work today.

So I could give a finger to my current distributor and finally pay just for the live action that it’s all I’m really care about (and not the expensive sport package filled with garbage that is of no interest for any thinking person)??

Something so many people have been wishing for. Le Mans 24h have their own feed, Blancpain Endurance Series have their own feed, all streamed live, people watch it and love it.
Definitely a step in the right direction, hopefully we don’t have to wait too long for that. There’s also an additional advantage, considering that I could watch from anywhere as long as I paid. Last weekend I went to Nurburgring for Blancpain ES, I had weekend tickets. There was an RCN race on Saturday, at the same time there was Blancpain pre-qualy on the GP track. We could watch both from the old pit. Before the RCN has finished, the qualy in Singapore has started. If I could watch that on my phone I would be able to watch 3 event at once, not that I would be able to really closely follow them but it would be great to have that option.

Imagine a multi screen cinema with each screen being slanted towards a different team. 1 big screen could easily be split into 6 screen shots. Each big screen would show the main footage, data screens, pit stops and then one would show the McLaren footage, another the Red Bull and another Ferrari.

Take F1 Legends stands to the foyer and the cinemas would be packed and make a fortune. No doubt some would be allowed to show the out of hours races and extend their working days to good effect.

Here in the USA, with SPEED channel gone, someone needs to start a new motorsports channel. All series to be included, F1, Nascar, Indy car, motorcycles, rally, etc. There is talent out there to be hired after being let go when Speed was killed. Maybe they could pick up broadcasting F1 in this country & Canada, & whoever; who would actually care about F1 & it would have a much higher priority than it does on NBC.

Speed also covered the Barrett-Jackson auctions & now it has been bumped FS2, which use to be Fuel TV, which is on a different cable package that few people get. One would think that Barrett-Jackson would like to see a new channel that would be profitable for both the channel & the auction.

The only problem with the prospect of Direct live video straght from FOM is the exclusivity clauses in many broadcast contracts.

Broadcasters pay to broadcast F1, They pay for online rights & they pay for the extra content (in-car’s, pit lane channel, timing, driver tracker, highlights etc….).
Can’t see them been happy about paying for something which can be got from another source, Its why they ask for the exclusivity clause to begin with.

If FOM were to roll out an online platform then I’d expect it to be Geo-Blocked in a lot of territories including the UK due to existing broadcast contracts.

I live in the US having moved here many years ago and haven’t had TV service for over 10 years. In that time I haven’t seen a Formula 1 race on TV or equivalent, nor is there any practical way for me to do so. My only contact now is this blog and whatever the BBC writes a day after the race, but that leads to me being increasingly disconnected. At some point I’ll just give up. (The alternate route of pirating the content is something I won’t do.)

What F1 needs to realise is that I have *so many* choices with my time and attention. Once I leave I won’t come back.

The technology delivery idea sounds good in theory. My concern is the likelyhood of ‘regional pricing’. Hopefully that wont happen, and it will be a better setup, pricing and value than the MotoGP’s expensive exclusive content delivery model. But I expect that it wont be…

I can’t see Sky or any other tv companies paying FOM as much in future if it’s possible to watch the races online. They might decide it’s not worth their while even bothering to show the races.
What kind of quality can be expected from online viewing? I’m not convinced it will match current HD tramsmissions, when they’re shown on a huge flatscreen.
Then we’ve got the problem of interweb bandwidth. Not everyone has true unlimited access at high enough speed to watch in good quality. With BT and Sky major internet companies, I wonder if their customers might suffer problems watching F1 on the internet!
Finally, what quality of commentators will FOM employ? Will they return to the old days of having commentators sat in a distant studio, pretending to be at the track – like Eurosport do?

Sounds interesting, but unfortunately having bitter experience of TCS (Tata Communciation Services) here in the UK it may well go something like this:

F1 feed goes live at the Belgium GP…..5 laps in, darkness, blank screens. It then takes around 80 people from all over the TCS world to jump on a conference call to decide what to do next. No one can work out who is agreeing or disagreeing as everyone is saying yes when they mean no and no when they mean yes and because its a call with no video they cant see who is nodding or shaking their heads…..chaos continues for 12 hours before Bernie gets fed up and sends in the Tifosi. They manage to find the power switch behind the desk in deepest darkest cupboard someone on the global network that has been used by the cleaner to hoover at 7am (local time)….issue sorted.

Oh and dont laugh……Ive witnessed a very similar problem on a different network of one of the big 4 accountancy firms.

James, this is great for consumers, but if we can get direct access to broadcasts via the internet, surely the TV rights fees would be more or less worthless?

It would be interesting to see the potential business model behind this- does online advertising account for a greater revenue stream than selling TV rights? My guess is that several large companies would be willing to pay for advertisements through an online channel, offering more value than static trackside ads.

Personally, I genuinely hope we get direct distribution- it annoys me every time a race is on Sky and I can’t watch it Live.

“Consumer demand for quality, live content across different platforms is now the norm and with the emergence of bandwidth-hungry production workflows such as Ultra HD, quick turnarounds and availability of content across multiple platforms is becoming a hygiene factor for content owners.”

I laughed out loud when I read the original statement. ‘hygiene factor’ is a poorly shortened reference to two-factor theory (see wikipedia – I let it explain it), which in itself is too esoteric or buzzwordy compared to more broadly recognisable and understandable terms.

“Content providers are battling with both the pluses of meeting the customer demand of fast, high quality & in an effective & appropriate amount of time, etc. content matched against the minuses of cost, infrastructure, pricing, etc. to end users to deliver the content” would be my translation

More than 100.000 subscribers for a F1 channel will be a miracle in Spain. The football channels have losses.
A multiple monitor channel will be very interesting. The possibility of change from one driver to another or view simultaneously two or four drivers will be a plus.
Will be a pay channel free of publicity? Bets about it.

I tend to agree with you for my own desire and coverage being currently adequately met, Bill.

This story is interesting when you consider we all just voted to a ‘fibre to the node’ version of our NBN. The world isn’t thinking in such limiting factors on the next generation of content and delivery across many facets, yet we will have a strong internet backbone with no different individual functional performance than now. If the free-to-air basic content we get now goes, getting the similar via an internet connection may be almost fine if you’re in a Capital city, but us regional dwellers get a very poor deal. At least for good portion of the foreseeable future.

The “money making” opportunity is in the first paragraph. Proof of concept delivering live feed to broadcasters. This will allow F1 to sell to many more broadcasters who will be able to sell on the live action and deliver via the internet, not TV.

This is a problem for the likes of Sky because their satellites will steadily become redundant because this can be done for any sport and then for any programme. A lot of broadcasting “Business Models” will become redundant over the coming years.

Technical terms are used because English is a very rich and adaptable language so we are not obliged to use the same old words over and over for new concepts and end up confusing ourselves.

But it does require that people keep current, and if they choose not to, they will fail to understand the new. It’s not right for us all to be held back because there are some people who refuse to do a little updating.

If you had not learned the following words your life would have been difficult since they didn’t exist in the days or books of Charles Dickens: television, automobile, turbocharger, telephone, internet, broadband, supersonic, and iPad.

It’s definitely worth worthwhile keeping current, and certainly if you want to follow a sport that’s more complex than golf.

Sure, the dictionary is thicker and richer since Dickens used it; and, sure, every discipline needs its jargon; but cascading technical terms do not make clear communication. You know that: your response is very clear (except for that word “telephone”; I’m going to have to look that one up).

The biggest offenders are people who market technical stuff, or as they prefer, “solutions.” That’s what set me off. Many of them seem to think that stringing together terminology makes them sounds smart. Sounding smart would sound much different.

I’m not sure what you meant by ‘telephone’, perhaps there was a typo in there.

We have a mutual distaste for marketeers who use psudo-technobabble as a smokescreen for their ignorance. It isn’t to be confused with scientists talking ‘string-theory’, condensed matter, and anything else that demands more than three syllables; that is there to be comprehended by those who has an interest in life and the universe.

The information that Gary provides through the BBC is light years ahead and above the wittering that comes from the other ‘pit lane reporters’ especially those long lost to satellite, he has been a Godsend to the coverage, he’s worth the licence fee alone.

In fact the dictionary doesn’t keep expanding because we lose words all the time: tram, starch, telex, cigarette, virgin, and carburettor, are heading out. Train, biplane, rivet and 35mm film, are but distant memories. While you are clearing out the rafters, you can spend time re-charging with the new, its what we, as humans do, unless you live south of Watford.

I heard somebody ask last week, how many people it took in the Home Counties to change a lightbulb: One retainer to change the bulb, plus nine old soaks at the bar to reminisce how much better light bulbs were in the old days.

This isn’t going to improve access via the Web, far from it. This is a closed circuit to by-pass the satellites which are easier to intercept, and reduce latency, the delay caused by the distance up to a satellite and back to a ground station.

Latency can be a second or two with the races that are in Australia, Japan and China, and can mean that broadcast TV is out of synchronisation with Internet data streams that are already mainly carried by fibre-optic cable. So you see the pole position lap finish on TV a little after your iPad flashes up the lap time.

Delays like this make it unsatisfactory to mix and match video, audio and data streams, and if there are gaming or gambling activities attached to the feeds, there is room for errors to creep in.

It allows FoM still more control on distribution of the TV, and permits more camera angles, data and formats to be added to the portfolio. It probably signals a move towards greater coverage to a narrower pay-channel audience. Currently it’s the sponsors who are paying the costs of the teams, and relying on the viewing public to see the adverts on the cars and go out and buy the products.

Increasingly this middleman will be pensioned off, and the public will pay directly to the TV companies for the rights to view races. It’s unlikely we will have cars without advertising stickers on them (as we had once) but we can expect that business models which rely on the fickle nature of the advertising industry to be phased out.

I am fed up with the commercials and the commentators patting each other on the back and kissing each other’s ass. The coverage in the USA is abysmal, ENDLESS commercials and chatter from these so-called experts. I want to see the race and less commercials! It never stops, I bought the app, another complete waste of time. I have switched channels during the coverage out of frustration not being able to see essential parts of the race and listening to in yet another commercial. Get your act together or you’re losing another supporter of formula 1. I was in Vietnam for the first 1/2 of the season and the coverage there is excellent, top drawer, fun to watch. Not so in the US.